The Michigan Transportation Team, a coalition of business, labor, and construction groups, recently called on state leaders to hike the gasoline tax 9 cents a gallon to fund road repair and maintenance. The proposal, which is supported locally by the Chambers of Commerce in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, came to mind the other day as I paid nearly $3.30 per gallon at the pump, with average gasoline prices statewide hitting a record for the third straight day.
One has to wonder about the palatability of a tax increase at the best of times. But a gas tax hike that follows on the heels of sharply rising fuel prices is especially curious. That the membership of MTT even considers such apostasy amounts to a fresh signal that the cut-taxes-and-spending orthodoxy, our basic economic development strategy for the last fifteen years, is now open to interpretation even by its prophets.
The question is how higher gas taxes, and the MTT’s particular recipe for spending the revenue, play out in the context of environmental, social, and economic sustainability. That's a complex matter to be sure.
From the sustainability standpoint, one of West Michigan's most immediate needs is to generate funding for the design, development, and construction of modern mass transit options — everything from buses and streetcar serving urban residents to rail lines connecting the central cities to dedicated traffic lanes for commuters.
We need to deepen investment – both public and private – in energy and transportation innovation, more specifically the local businesses researching and developing the new ideas. And we need to support the regeneration of abandoned urban infrastructure, while addressing fossil fuel pollution from automobiles and diesel engines.
There is a good chance that, at some point in the next few years, we will see an increase in the federal gasoline tax. The intent, one hopes, is to relieve U.S. dependence on foreign oil and subsidize emerging homeland energy sources and technologies. Calls for such a tax have come from many quarters. But, until it happens, state government – through policy and spending – will remain the principal power shaping Michigan's energy platform and, by extension, its sustainability agenda.
Moving the Debate Beyond the Automobile
Grand Valley State University Professor John Taylor, a marketing and logistics professor, recently conducted a comprehensive study of the gas tax increase on behalf of the Mackinaw Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank based in Midland, MI. Taylor recommends a statewide tax increase of 6 and 10 cents per gallon for gasoline and diesel respectively. That would raise the taxes for both up to 25 cents per gallon. At that level, Michigan would remain competitive with nearby states.
In making his recommendations, Taylor picks his way carefully, if not always gracefully, through the minefield of the Mackinaw Center’s conservative triggers. He calls for balancing the gas tax increases with cost cutting strategies such as reduced Medicaid spending and privatizing prisons
In fact, much of his argument is based on cost containment: repeal the prevailing wage law, restrict environmental impact statements, and reduce finicky local controls. He has little to say about the advantages of investing in mass transit – accelerated economic growth and greater independence for citizens, to name two. He also does no favors for gas-efficient technologies like hybrids. Tax them too, I say. They use the roads, and it’s all about the roads.
Speaking for myself, I’m inclined to cautiously favor proposals for the maintenance of the state’s highways through gas taxes. No matter your point of view, it’s hard to argue with the economic impact of having exceptionally good or bad roads. I don't care for the Michigan Department of Transportation's tendency to disguise road expansion projects as “maintenance and repair.” But overall, like many people, I subscribe to a common-sense “fix-it-first” philosophy and I support a proposal that provides for road repairs.
Promoting 21st Century Mobility
At the same time, I’m disinclined to favor proposals that are designed to selectively fund the highway options, while cutting other needed services in order to compensate. That looks more like an agenda for protecting business-as-usual while ignoring the considerable leaps in energy and transportation innovation that will boost our competitiveness in the rising knowledge economy.
The Michigan Transportation Team, which has stopped short of endorsing Prof. Taylor's report, promises to dedicate a portion of the new revenue generated by a gas tax hike for public transit alternatives. But the fact is Michigan law already guarantees 95 percent of every transportation tax dollar to the highways program. 5 percent theoretically is set aside for transit. But in reality, transit programs seldom reap more than 2 or 3 percent of the total.
It surprises me, frankly, that the Michigan Public Transit Association is riding this bus. They must see their fortunes tied to the highway lobby for the foreseeable future. But transit does not appear to be a winner in this, as far as I can tell.
Of course, to a lot of people, and especially to officeholders and office seekers, new highway capacity is a wonderful thing. Some people believe it is the major reason for government’s existence. To politicians, it is the mother’s milk of election campaigning. Whole regional mythologies have been built up over years to assure us of state government’s obligations to asphalt and concrete, to our local and regional economies. And when the roads open or reopen, and the ribbons get cut, and the new lanes fill, it can feel like a victory. And as far as it goes, maybe it is.
So support a gas tax if you will – but one that provides thoughtfully for the 21st Century by expanding modern public transit options and reinvesting in existing communities before subsidizing new ones. Road repair is a fine place to start, but not the place to start and stop.
Tom Leonard, the former executive director of the West Michigan Environmental Action Council, is a writer and independent consultant living in Grand Rapids.
Photos:
Mobil Station at Cherry and Monroe
The Rapid cruises near Van Andel Arena
Construction on Grandville Avenue
Construction on Wealthy Street west of Eastern Avenue
Photographs by Brian Kelly